We’ve worked so hard to get here. We’ve followed all the rules, climbed the ladder, ticked all the boxes. We’ve pushed ourselves, hustled and we made our families proud. Our inboxes are full, our calendars packed, our wardrobes polished and on trend. On paper, we look like the definition of success.

But no one sees what happens when the laptop closes.

We’re not lazy. We’re not ungrateful. We’re just… alone.

Even when we’re surrounded by people - in team meetings, on video calls, at after-work drinks - something is missing. We smile. We contribute. We keep it all together. But inside, there’s an ache. The kind that whispers, “Why do I feel so empty?”

Outward success does not

equal inner fulfilment

And here’s the truth we rarely speak aloud:

In the corporate world, we keep ourselves and our real feelings to ourselves.

We don’t talk about the deeper stuff - not the doubts, the disconnect, the desire for something more.

We’re afraid that if we admit how we really feel, someone will question our capability.

That we’ll be seen as not pulling our weight, not committed enough.

That we’ll be exposed.

So, we carry on. Isolated in boardrooms and packed meeting rooms. Drained by the performance we think is expected of us.

“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.”
- Michel de Montaigne

We keep showing up as the ‘do-er’ - the reliable one, the achiever.

We’ve learned to silence the inner voice that longs for more than just another goal post.

Because we’re taught that ambition and gratitude can’t coexist.

We’ve learned that professionalism is now, self-realisation is for later (in life).

And yet here we are - successful, but feeling utterly disconnected.

Fitting in, but feeling like strangers in our own lives.

We long for more - not more promotions, but more meaning, more freedom and autonomy and more creativity.

We crave conversations that go beneath the surface.

A life that doesn’t just look good, but feels good.

We want to be seen, not just for what we do, but for who we are.

This kind of loneliness can’t be fixed with a raise, a yoga class, or a weekend away.

It needs something deeper:

Openness.

Truth.

Connection.

The courage to peel back the layers of who we’ve been expected to be - so we can meet the person we truly are underneath it all.

As women in our 40s, we’ve achieved so much.

We’ve come so far from where we started.

But this quiet inner conflict - this feeling of invisibility, of going through the motions - is not a flaw.

It’s a signal.

A signal that something inside us is ready to shift.

I get it.

I get it because I’ve lived it.

For years, I performed the part flawlessly, even while feeling like something vital was missing.

For years I endured my corporate existence until I thought the change I needed was a way out.

Planning my exit strategy and leaving it all behind seemed the only solution.

It wasn’t until I was open to finally receive some guidance and someone helped me look inward, beyond the act I was putting on, beyond the performance I had unknowingly mastered toward my real self.

That's when everything began to change.

“It is not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.”
- Lena Horne

Now, through The Self-Leadership Effect, I guide women like us to stop pretending and start belonging - first to ourselves, then to leading the lives we’re meant to create.

Because we don’t have to keep carrying the mask.

We don’t have to keep proving our worth.

We get to lead from who we truly are.

And that changes everything.

Susanne Kubik - The Self-Leadership Effect

Hi, I'm Susanne. For most of my career I've worked in high pressured environments in Consultancy and Investment Banking where I perfectly adapted to the corporate soldier mentality, simply because I felt I needed to fit in, feeling otherwise invisible, insignificant and compared myself notoriously. For years I was enduring my corporate existence or forever planned my exit strategy, carrying the burden of needing to be seen as "professional" was more important than being seen as human. However, I learned that there is another way .... Finding my true self instead of chasing outward success has been the game changer that affected all areas in my life positively.

Nowadays I am sharing the simple strategies and mind hacks to silence the inner critic with others, so they can finally replace the self-doubt for inner knowing and find their brilliance beyond roles and job titles and live a live on purpose and with intention.

To find out more check out:

https://susannekubik.com/home

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